Caring for people's lives - undeniable achievements

Reality over the past years has shown that the Vietnamese Party and State have always actively promulgated and made efforts to organize and implement increasingly effective social policies in accordance with the teachings of President Ho Chi Minh during his lifetime, which is to always care for the people, so that everyone has food to eat, clothes to wear, can study, work, be cared for, and helped when sick or in trouble, and have an increasingly prosperous and happy life.

Along with the determination to promote the cause of national development innovation, a series of resolutions and directives on the implementation of social policies have been issued and directed for implementation. Recently, our Party issued Resolution No. 42-NQ/TW dated November 24, 2023, on continuing to innovate and improve the quality of social policies, meeting the requirements of national construction and defense in the new period.

The goal is that all levels, sectors and localities must further improve the quality and effectiveness of social policy implementation, ensuring that people can better enjoy the fruits of the country's innovation and development, and truly ensure and protect human rights and civil rights, while continuing to affirm the Party's consistent viewpoint on focusing on the implementation of social policy, considering caring for the lives of all classes of people as the essence and goal of the socialist regime, and at the same time the driving force of innovation and sustainable development of the country.

The Resolution also frankly pointed out that in the past, the organization and implementation of social policies in some localities and areas still had limitations and shortcomings, causing a part of the people to not truly enjoy the achievements of the renovation process; social policies and social development management have not kept up with development requirements. However, those limitations are due to objective reasons (such as limited economic potential of the country, complicated developments of natural disasters, epidemics, etc.), and mostly due to subjective reasons related to the awareness, capacity, and responsibility of some Party committees, authorities and a part of cadres and civil servants when implementing social policies.

From here, the Resolution requires all levels, sectors, localities, agencies and units to raise awareness, develop action programs with specific and feasible measures to more effectively implement social policies in a comprehensive, sustainable, progressive and equitable direction, constantly improving the quality of material and spiritual life and happiness of the people, in which there needs to be attention and support for people with meritorious services, policy families, disadvantaged groups, people in mountainous areas, ethnic minorities, etc. to ensure better implementation of the people's real enjoyment rights in reality, without discrimination, leaving no one behind.

Thanks to the efforts and determination of the Party and State, together with the active coordination of organizations, departments, branches and localities, we have achieved many important achievements in implementing social policies. The lives of people in all aspects of life in almost all provinces, cities, regions and ethnic groups in the country have been improved and enhanced, with the average income per capita in 2023 reaching 4,284 USD, an increase of more than 40 times compared to 1990.

Vietnam is also a country highly appreciated for its achievements in hunger eradication and poverty reduction, with the poverty rate decreasing from nearly 60% in 1986 to below 3% in 2023, of which the poverty rate in poor districts is only about 33% (decreasing by 4-5% each year), the poverty rate of ethnic minorities is about 17.82% (decreasing by about 3% each year), bringing many coastal and island communes out of the category of extremely difficult.

The implementation of social security and social welfare policies in all localities has always been focused on and strengthened with many remarkable achievements. By the end of 2023, 100% of social protection beneficiaries will receive monthly allowances; 100% of people affected by natural disasters and hunger will receive timely assistance, no one will go hungry; more than 90% of people with disabilities will receive social assistance, care, and rehabilitation; more than 90% of the elderly will receive social assistance, support, and care. The implementation of social insurance, health insurance, people's health care, clean water supply, electricity, etc. policies nationwide will be focused on and implemented with positive results.

Along with that, the Party and the State always pay special attention to people with meritorious services, families with meritorious services, and ethnic minorities. Every year, more than 30,000 billion VND is spent on implementing policies on subsidies, incentives, health care, and gift giving... for people with meritorious services and families with meritorious services, directing the entire population to actively participate in the "Repaying gratitude" movements, taking care of families of war invalids, martyrs, and people with meritorious services to the revolution... ensuring that families of people with meritorious services achieve a standard of living equal to or higher than the average level of the local population.

All levels, sectors and localities have also actively implemented priority policies, supported socio-economic development, and cared for the lives of ethnic minorities. In the period of 2021-2022, the whole country has implemented 91 industrial promotion projects to support remote provinces in the northern, central coastal, Central Highlands and Southwest regions with a budget of 63 billion VND; built 186 suspension bridges for ethnic minorities in 28 northern mountainous, central and Central Highlands provinces; supported poor ethnic minority households to build and repair 1,350 houses, solidarity houses, team houses, storm and flood shelters worth more than 110 billion VND; received and created jobs for more than 2,000 ethnic minorities; helped nearly 400 poor ethnic minority farming households to develop the economy with a value of more than ten billion VND; attracted nearly 17 trillion VND in ODA capital,... to support the development of ethnic minority areas.

The development of education and training, improving people's knowledge and developing human resources, and providing health care for mountainous and ethnic minority areas are also highly valued with investment in building a system of boarding and semi-boarding schools for ethnic minorities, and specialized faculties and majors for ethnic minorities. Up to now, of the 6,000 students of ethnic minority boarding schools each year, more than 50% of students pass the entrance exam directly to universities and colleges, 5% are admitted to select schools, 13% study university preparatory courses, and about 30% enter vocational colleges, vocational training, or return to their localities to work.

Localities also actively implemented the State's direction in prioritizing medical examination and treatment for ethnic minorities in remote and isolated areas; connecting, consulting, examining and treating remotely with medical facilities examining and treating ethnic minorities; sending young volunteer doctors to work in mountainous provinces, remote and isolated areas, border areas, islands, and areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; implementing expanded immunization programs, nutrition and food safety, improving the health and stature of ethnic minority youth...

However, with a hostile and ill-willed attitude, in recent times, anti-government and reactionary elements have frequently tried to fabricate, slander, and make many arguments to defame and distort the implementation of socialism in our country. They blatantly turn the truth of the matter into black and white, claiming that the implementation of socialism in Vietnam is only a formality and that the achievements recorded in documents and resolutions are mainly for "showing off", to show off achievements, or are fabricated, self-made to exaggerate the Party's achievements, lull, deceive, and deceive the people, and are not real.

They even slandered that social policy is just a tool for officials to take advantage of, embezzle, and corrupt, and carry out group interests. They fabricated that Vietnam's social policy only focuses on ensuring benefits for a number of subjects and regions, especially cadres and officials in large provinces and cities, while the majority of poor workers, in mountainous, rural, remote areas, are not cared for, and even those who have contributed to the country are not properly cared for, and have to live in misery.

To sabotage the great national unity bloc and incite regional divisions, these subjects also blatantly fabricated that ethnic minority people are always outside the scope of social policy, are always abandoned, and are not cared for in terms of their lives or their education, in order to monopolize all power and benefits for Kinh officials and officials.

These are unacceptable distortions that “turn black into white”. It can be seen that the main purpose of these distortions is to deny the role of the Party and the State of Vietnam, and to deny the superior democratic nature of the socialist regime in Vietnam. If these defamatory and distorted arguments are not identified and fought resolutely and promptly, they will cause a segment of the uninformed and gullible people to be lured and enticed to listen, thereby giving rise to a mentality of doubt and a decline in confidence in the leadership of the Party and the State.

In particular, from here, it is possible to sow hatred and suspicion among people of all ethnic groups, causing division in the great national unity bloc so that reactionary elements can easily entice and incite people to participate in protests and riots against the Party and the State, destroying the achievements of national development, affecting the interests and peaceful lives of the people, such as some heartbreaking incidents that have occurred recently in some provinces and cities.

This reality poses new tasks for the fight against hostile and erroneous viewpoints. It is necessary to affirm that the efforts and achievements in implementing socialism in Vietnam in recent times are the most accurate and convincing evidence to help strengthen the trust of all classes of people, and also the basis for refuting distorted arguments. The consensus, support, and determination of the Party, the State, and the whole society in implementing socialism have affirmed the superior democratic nature of the Vietnamese socialist regime, as well as the Party's choice of the right path for the benefit and happiness of all classes of people.

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